Sandman Vol 2 2
Supporting Characters: * * * * * * :* :* :* Adversaries: * Other Characters: * * * * * * * Ruthven Sykes * :* :* :* :* :* Locations: * :* :* * :* * :* :* Items: * * * Vehicles: * None | Notes = * This issue is reprinted in Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes, Sandman: Absolute Edition, Volume 1 and ''Essential Vertigo: Sandman'' #2. * This issue establishes that many of the host characters from DC's various horror anthology titles of the 1970s are denizens of the Dreaming. Cain was the host of House of Mystery, while his brother Abel was the host of House of Secrets. The Three Witches were the featured hosts of Witching Hour and Lucien was the host of the short-lived Tales of Ghost Castle. Another character that makes a cameo appearance in this issue is that of Raven Woman. Raven Woman is later revealed to be the Biblical Eve, who herself, was the hostess of Secrets of Sinister House. Eve, Cain and Abel were also recurring characters in the humor title Plop!. * First appearance of the Fashion Thing, another resident of the Dreaming. Like most beings who inhabit the Dreaming, the Fashion Thing goes by many different names. Her character is expanded upon in later issues. * Blue Beetle, Fire and Guy Gardner of the Justice League make a cameo flashback appearance on the front page of a newspaper. * First Post-Crisis appearance of Doctor Destiny. Doctor Destiny's physical appearance is radically different in this issue from how he has been presented in earlier stories. In Pre-Crisis continuity, Destiny was always represented as a normal adult male with striking features. In this issue, he is shown to be a stooped, emaciated grotesque being with withering hair and crooked teeth. Doctor Destiny's mother appears in this issue addressed as Ethel Dee. This is actually Ethel Cripps who was shown to have stolen the Dreamstone from Ruthven Sykes in the 1936 flashback from issue #1. This issue establishes that Morpheus' Dreamstone is analogous to Doctor Destiny's Materioptikon. * Ruthven Sykes appears in a flashback to events that took place in 1930 in issue #1. The demon Choronzon makes a behind-the-scenes appearance in this flashback. Choronzon will be revealed as the demon who bartered for Dream's Helm in issue #4. * Gregory the Gargoyle is Cain's pet at the House of Mystery and was a regularly featured character in that title. * Roger Huntoon was a recurring background character from Saga of the Swamp Thing. His history is also tied to that of hedge mage John Constantine. Huntoon was Constantine's physician during the two years that he spent at the Ravenscar Secure Hospital in England. In the intervening years, Huntoon relocated to Arkham Asylum. * John Constantine makes a cameo appearance in this issue. He is seen next in issue #3. * Reference is made to Brute and Glob in this issue. Brute and Glob were two nightmares that often worked alongside Garrett Sanford, the Silver Age Sandman. They were regularly featured characters in Sandman (Volume 1). They make their first Post-Crisis appearance in ''Sandman (Volume 2)'' #11. | Trivia = * Dream's quote, "It was a dark and stormy nightmare..." is a tounge-in-cheek reference to the phrase "It was a dark and stormy night". The phrase was originally penned by Victorian novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton as the beginning of his 1830 novel Paul Clifford. * This issue establishes the caveat that all gargoyle names must begin with the letter "G". * This is the first time that the Three Witches are presented as an interchangeable single entity; The Three-in-One. In previous appearances, they have always been presented as separate individuals. * Abel is seen crawling out of his own portrait in this issue. | Recommended = * Dreaming (Volume 1) * Sandman (Volume 2) | Links = * Sandman article at Wikipedia * Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes article at Wikipedia * Sandman series index at Comicbookdb.com * Sandman series index at the Grand Comics Database * Sandman Annotations }}